in selling it [and safeguarding its proceeds], or if he has no protected pasture (hima), he shall sell it after assessing its value, preserving a record of its descriptions, and safeguarding its proceeds for its owner, for that is more protective of the property; because leaving it leads to the possibility that it will consume the entirety of its own value.

Section: Whoever finds a beast left in a place of destruction, and a person takes it, feeds it, gives it water, and rescues it, becomes its owner. This is the position held by Al-Layth, Al-Hasan ibn Salih, and Ishaq. This applies unless the owner had left it with the intention of returning to it, or if it had strayed from him. Malik said: It belongs to its original owner, and the rescuer is reimbursed for what he spent on it. Al-Shafi'i and Ibn al-Mundhir said: It belongs to its owner, and the other person is a volunteer regarding the expenditure, and he is not entitled to any reimbursement, because it is the property of another, and he did not come to possess it in exchange for anything without the owner's consent, [just as if it were in a place not considered a place of destruction, and he may not reclaim it; because he spent on the property of another without his permission, so he receives nothing in return, as if he had built a house on another's land] (18). Our view is based on what Al-Sha'bi narrated, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever finds a beast that its owners have become unable to care for, so they have abandoned it, and then he takes it and restores it to health, it belongs to him." 'Ubayd Allah ibn Humayd ibn 'Abd al-Rahman said: I asked—meaning the Sha'bi—: Who narrated this to you? He said: More than one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Abu Dawud recorded it with his chain of narration (20). In another version from Al-Sha'bi, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he said: "Whoever leaves a beast in a place of destruction, and a man restores it to health, it belongs to the one who restored it." Furthermore, adjudicating that he owns it serves to revive it, save it from destruction, protect the wealth from loss, and uphold the sanctity of the animal. To say that it is not owned is to allow all of that to be lost without any beneficial outcome. Moreover, it was abandoned out of desire to be rid of it and an inability to maintain it,